Category: Local Politics

The Re:Act newsletter from two weeks ago had an excellent section on preparing for special elections and regularly scheduled elections in 2017 as well as the very important 2018 midterms. I’m going to share it here because I think as many people as possible should see it. I’ve already mentioned and supported several of these organizations and promoted some of these actions in this blog, but seeing everything together is helpful in terms of getting an overview of everything we need to do to get more Democrats and progressives into elected office.

Organizing

✓ Find your local Democratic party office. No matter who you support for Chair, the DNC is likely to be in good hands in the years to come, and will be prioritizing local organizing. A few volunteers for a local rep or state senate candidate can make all the difference.

✓ Sign up with #KnockEveryDoor. This initiative is a set of nationwide, volunteer-led canvasses to organize communities against Trump. Canvass where you live and invite your friends to get involved, especially if you live in a county that flipped from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016.

✓ Donate to the Movement Voter Project. Efficient, localized donating to maximize impact. The organization talent-scouts both national movement-building efforts and local efforts in all 50 states that are focused on voter engagement. These are organizations where an extra $10 will make the greatest difference for achieving progress in keeping democratic institutions viable and accountable.

Special Elections in 2017

✓ For 2017 special elections, share the below Flippable links. Flippable has compiled a list of the 23 upcoming special elections in 2017. These races provide electoral opportunities to resist the Trump agenda. The organization prioritized three races as targets to flip or hold based on the closeness of the race and the long-term impact of these seats on national politics. They’ve also listed all the elections so people can see the nearest one to them:

House races

✓ Check out Swingleft. Control of the House in 2018 will be decided by a handful of Swing Districts, places where the last election was decided by a thin margin. Find your closest Swing District and join its team to learn about actionable opportunities to support progressives — and defeat Republicans — in that district, no matter where you live.

Senate Races

✓ Follow Roadto2018, a coalition focused on the 2018 midterms, with a specific choice to marshal resources to support 12 specific Senate candidates. Speaking personally, I worry about these races getting the attention they deserve, specifically because they will be tough fights.

Candidates

✓ Sign up at Run for Something, a new group which will recruit and support talented, passionate young people who will “advocate for progressive values now and for the next 30 years, with the ultimate goal of building a progressive bench.”

Voting Rights

✓ Sign up for Let America Vote, a new project by Jason Kander, former senate candidate and secretary of state in Missouri. Says Kander, “We have a voting problem in America. Voting in our country has never been easy, but there’s a new challenge: Politicians are now trying to stop Americans from voting because of who they are likely voting for in an election … Let America Vote will be there to lead the way against it.”

✓ Support VoteRiders, an organization making sure that no eligible citizen is denied his or her right to vote for lack of ID.

Now that Tom Price has, unfortunately, been confirmed for his position in Trump’s Cabinet, his house in the US House of Representatives is open. A special election is being held April 18 to determine who the new Rep for the 6th Congressional District of Georgia will be. Jon Osseff is a former staffer for Rep. John Lewis, and has his support in the race. Trump seriously underperformed expectations in the presidential race in this district, coming in about even with Hillary Clinton. That means that the Democrats have a real chance of taking this seat with enough support and visibility.

Help show Washington that Trump’s agenda is already losing by flipping the first seat in the House back to a Democrat mere months after his inauguration.

How Democrats are doing on a state and local level is as, if not more, important than how they’re doing on a national level. Right now, Republicans are killing us in that regard – 33 out of 50 governors are Republicans, and Republicans in 24 states control both the entire state legislature and governorship. This is… not good. That’s why we need to support Democrats running for State and local offices, and this week, one of those Democrats is Stephanie Hansen. Stephanie is running for State Senator in Delaware’s February 25th special election. Right now, Delaware is one of the only Democratic ‘trifectas’ in the country, which means that Democrats control the entire state legislature and governorship. If Stephanie wins, that will continue to be true, but if she loses, Republicans will control Delaware’s state senate and will be able to gridlock progressive legislation.